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Coronavirus-Led Logjam Extends Gaming Hours: 3 Best Buys
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The coronavirus-compelled global lockdown is fueling demand for video games and expanding the duration of time spent on playing games, which is spiraling exponentially as more and more people stay at home.
Per a latest Nielsen Games survey, cited by The Hollywood Reporter, time spent on gaming in the United States surged 45% for the week spanning from Mar 23 to Mar 29. France trailed the United States with 38% followed by the United Kingdom and Germany, up 29% and 20%, respectively.
Online gaming also gained significantly. Notably, 29% of U.S. gamers is spending more hours on playing games over the web with friends. This is also pushing up the spending curve as 39% of those surveyed is paying for video games. Moreover, 42% of U.S. gamers in the Nielsen poll is buying digital games amid the coronavirus-led lockdown.
Notably, the United States now reels under the burden of maximum coronavirus cases in the world, per the Johns Hopkins University data. Total number of infected persons in the country now swell to 368,449.
Game Streaming Platform User Base Gets a Boost
Streaming platforms like Amazon’s (AMZN - Free Report) Twitch, YouTube Gaming, Microsoft’s (MSFT - Free Report) Mixer and Facebook Gaming are also benefiting from the coronavirus-induced shutdowns and quarantines, per latest data from streamlabs.
Twitch topped three billion hours watched over the first quarter of 2020 (January-March). The streaming platform accounted for 65% of total streaming hours watched and 72% of total hours streamed. Mixer trailed Twitch in terms of most hours streamed.
Moreover, concurrent viewers on Twitch increased from 1.2 million in fourth-quarter 2019 to 1.4 million in first-quarter 2020. Further, average concurrent viewers on YouTube Gaming Live increased 15.5% sequentially.
Furthermore, Valve’s Windows PC digital store, Steam, achieved a new record of 23,571,959 concurrent players, per VGChartz.
Video Game Stocks to Take Note of
Coronavirus-imposed lockdowns and expansive social distancing may impede growth in most industries but it is actually proving to be a boon for video game developers. Here we discuss three video game stocks that are well-poised for further growth amid the coronavirus mess.
Notably, all three stocks have outperformed the S&P 500 composite on a year-to-date basis.
Year-to-Date Performance
Electronic Arts (EA - Free Report) is expected to benefit from its portfolio strength. Solid demand for popular franchises including Apex Legends, FIFA, Madden NFL, The Sims 4, Need For Speed Heat, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Battlefield is expected to drive the user base of this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Nintendo (NTDOY - Free Report) is expected to gain an edge from the popularity of its Switch video game console. This Zacks #2 Ranked stock also expanded its console offerings with the release of Switch Lite in September 2019. Moreover, the company’s partnership with Tencent, which allows the latter to publish Super Mario Odyssey and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in China, the world’s largest gaming market, bodes well for Nintendo.
Take Two Interactive (TTWO - Free Report) is expected to gain traction from sturdy demand for NBA 2K20 and NBA 2K19; Grand Theft Auto Online and Grand Theft Auto V; Red Dead Redemption 2 and Red Dead Online; Sid Meier’s Civilization VI plus WWE SuperCard and WWE 2K20. Games like Borderlands 3, Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey and The Outer Worlds further strengthened this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company’s portfolio.
Today's Best Stocks from Zacks
Would you like to see the updated picks from our best market-beating strategies? From 2017 through 2019, while the S&P 500 gained and impressive +53.6%, five of our strategies returned +65.8%, +97.1%, +118.0%, +175.7% and even +186.7%.
This outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. From 2000 – 2019, while the S&P averaged +6.0% per year, our top strategies averaged up to +54.7% per year.
Image: Bigstock
Coronavirus-Led Logjam Extends Gaming Hours: 3 Best Buys
The coronavirus-compelled global lockdown is fueling demand for video games and expanding the duration of time spent on playing games, which is spiraling exponentially as more and more people stay at home.
Per a latest Nielsen Games survey, cited by The Hollywood Reporter, time spent on gaming in the United States surged 45% for the week spanning from Mar 23 to Mar 29. France trailed the United States with 38% followed by the United Kingdom and Germany, up 29% and 20%, respectively.
Online gaming also gained significantly. Notably, 29% of U.S. gamers is spending more hours on playing games over the web with friends. This is also pushing up the spending curve as 39% of those surveyed is paying for video games. Moreover, 42% of U.S. gamers in the Nielsen poll is buying digital games amid the coronavirus-led lockdown.
Notably, the United States now reels under the burden of maximum coronavirus cases in the world, per the Johns Hopkins University data. Total number of infected persons in the country now swell to 368,449.
Game Streaming Platform User Base Gets a Boost
Streaming platforms like Amazon’s (AMZN - Free Report) Twitch, YouTube Gaming, Microsoft’s (MSFT - Free Report) Mixer and Facebook Gaming are also benefiting from the coronavirus-induced shutdowns and quarantines, per latest data from streamlabs.
Twitch topped three billion hours watched over the first quarter of 2020 (January-March). The streaming platform accounted for 65% of total streaming hours watched and 72% of total hours streamed. Mixer trailed Twitch in terms of most hours streamed.
Moreover, concurrent viewers on Twitch increased from 1.2 million in fourth-quarter 2019 to 1.4 million in first-quarter 2020. Further, average concurrent viewers on YouTube Gaming Live increased 15.5% sequentially.
Furthermore, Valve’s Windows PC digital store, Steam, achieved a new record of 23,571,959 concurrent players, per VGChartz.
Video Game Stocks to Take Note of
Coronavirus-imposed lockdowns and expansive social distancing may impede growth in most industries but it is actually proving to be a boon for video game developers. Here we discuss three video game stocks that are well-poised for further growth amid the coronavirus mess.
Notably, all three stocks have outperformed the S&P 500 composite on a year-to-date basis.
Year-to-Date Performance
Electronic Arts (EA - Free Report) is expected to benefit from its portfolio strength. Solid demand for popular franchises including Apex Legends, FIFA, Madden NFL, The Sims 4, Need For Speed Heat, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Battlefield is expected to drive the user base of this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Nintendo (NTDOY - Free Report) is expected to gain an edge from the popularity of its Switch video game console. This Zacks #2 Ranked stock also expanded its console offerings with the release of Switch Lite in September 2019. Moreover, the company’s partnership with Tencent, which allows the latter to publish Super Mario Odyssey and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in China, the world’s largest gaming market, bodes well for Nintendo.
Take Two Interactive (TTWO - Free Report) is expected to gain traction from sturdy demand for NBA 2K20 and NBA 2K19; Grand Theft Auto Online and Grand Theft Auto V; Red Dead Redemption 2 and Red Dead Online; Sid Meier’s Civilization VI plus WWE SuperCard and WWE 2K20. Games like Borderlands 3, Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey and The Outer Worlds further strengthened this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company’s portfolio.
Today's Best Stocks from Zacks
Would you like to see the updated picks from our best market-beating strategies? From 2017 through 2019, while the S&P 500 gained and impressive +53.6%, five of our strategies returned +65.8%, +97.1%, +118.0%, +175.7% and even +186.7%.
This outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. From 2000 – 2019, while the S&P averaged +6.0% per year, our top strategies averaged up to +54.7% per year.
See their latest picks free >>